The Riddle of the Tower by J.D. Beresford & Esmé Wynne-Tyson

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'Vox principii, vox dei.'

Frustrated with the war and desperate to understand why conflict seems to be a part of human nature, Mr. Begbie, "a publisher of Leftish books", receives a mysterious manuscript detailing a radical new theory of mankind—a brave new philosophy which shatters his paradigm and sends him off on an adventure across time and space.

With the aid of the manuscript and an ancient force that dwells beyond the stars, Begbie lives through the collapse of Atlantis, observes the development of modernity, and watches as the human race gradually succumbs to mechanisation and the desire for safety, eradicating all personality, all difference, rendering themselves little more than intelligent insects. 

First published in 1944, The Riddle of the Tower caused a minor sensation upon release—a scathing reaction to the optimistic social science-fiction of H.G. Wells, and the inability of traditional progressive and conservative political movements to adequately explain humanity's death-drive. 

A fearless exploration of man's spiritual malaise, The Riddle of the Tower is even more relevant now than it was when it was first published.

Preconfiguring the philosophical fiction of Colin Wilson, The Riddle of the Tower is J.D. Beresford's most profound statement on the human soul, and a thought-provoking exploration of man's self-destructive drive toward comfort, order, and technologisation.

'A thought-provoking book and a needed antidote to the increasingly collectivist tendencies of our times.'
- London Daily News

'A natural novelist' 
- George Orwell